"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Some Endorsements Can Mean A Lot-- Like The Nurses Announcement For Bao Nguyen

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Two Democrats involved in crowded primaries got very high-level endorsements this week. Blue America-backed progressive Bao Nguyen is competing in a jungle primary with 2 other Democrats and 4 Republicans to replace Loretta Sanchez in the Orange County congressional seat she's giving up to run for Senate. Two great unions-- National Nurses United (NNU) and the California Nurses Association came together to endorse him Monday. Bao, the Mayor of Garden Grove, is the only progressive in the race and he's backing Bernie's campaign and running on the same package of issues and values.Shella Soriano, RN, and a local leader of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, announced the much-coveted endorsement, noting that Bao "has made serving the public interest his priority... For demanding improved Medicare for all, advocating for school funding, ensuring accountable government, and pushing back on corporations that put our community and our environment at risk, Bao has demonstrated that he will be a champion for the people of Orange County-- our jobs, our families, and our health."Bao responded by pointing out that "the fight for universal healthcare is not over. While the Affordable Care Act certainly has helped in many respects, millions of Americans remain uninsured. I plan to build off the successes of Obamacare, and fight to expand healthcare until every last American family has the resources they need to keep themselves and their children healthy... The nurses who care for our families are on the front lines, keeping Americans healthy. I’m proud to have their support, and in Congress, I’ll make sure they have the resources they need to do their jobs."The same day, just a few hours later, one of the villains of Democratic Party politics, Steve Israel, looked at the list of 5 Democrats vying for the NY-03 North Shore of Long Island seat he's giving up and, predictably, went right for the most corrupt and most conservative of the 5, Suffolk County legislator Steve Stern. Israel had previously promised the other candidates he wouldn't endorse in the race, although his staffers have all been working for Stern and helping Stern connect with Israel's shady contributors. Stern admitted publicly that Israel is his "mentor" and said he intends "to fulfill Steve Israel’s legacy."Israel said he told Stern of his endorsement decision at Sweet Hollow Diner about two weeks ago, at a time he was lying to the other candidates about remaining neutral. But, of course, lying is a major part of Steve Israel's greasy legacy. No one ever thought he would be neutral anyway. Israel had lured poor Anna Kaplan into the race so that she would split the Nassau County vote with Kaiman (and, as it turned out, Suozzi). Abut, basically, Israel had promised Stern the seat when he thought he was going to run for Hillary's U.S. Senate seat (before Schumer told him to go sit in the corner and behave himself). Stern's wife is a real Jewish American Princess and she's always been giving Stern a hard time about being a lowly county legislator even though she comes from a family of wealthy furniture peddlers. And that brings us to the other part of Israel's disgraceful legacy-- turning the Democratic Party into a kind of plutocracy, even admitting that one of the factors that went into his decision to endorse the lazy, low-achievement Stern was that he raised the most money, neglecting to mention, that there aforementioned furniture empire have him $54,000 and that he self-funded another $68,000.The Bernie candidate in the race, Jonathan Clarke (who you can support here) downplayed Israel's endorsement. "It doesn’t mean much. People are tired of career politicians. Israel is one and Stern is just following in his footsteps. No one is more generic than Steve Stern."